The German
economy has narrowly avoided recession, growing 0.1% in the third quarter, the
country's statistics office said.
Earlier on
Friday, figures from France showed stronger-than-expected growth of 0.3% for
the third quarter. Figures for other eurozone nations will be published during
Friday morning.
Positive surprise
Germany's
0.1% contraction in the second quarter was a revision from a previous estimate
of a 0.2% shrinkage in the April-to-May period.
The
statistics office said German consumers had increased spending strongly during
the third quarter period, and that exports had also risen.
The figures
will be seen as good news for the wider eurozone, whose sluggish growth has
forced policymakers to cut interest rates and introduce other stimulus
measures.
Christian
Schulz, senior eurozone economist at Berenberg Bank, told the BBC that
confidence among German businesses was low, in large part because of worries
about the Ukraine crisis.
The German
economy, for so long the eurozone's driving force, had been "a drag"
in recent months, he said. He described the French data as a "positive
surprise".
France's
0.3% growth is the highest since the second quarter of 2013, and was slightly
above the 0.2% growth forecast that many analysts had predicted.
(Πηγή: bbc.com)
